The most successful business entrepreneurs are those who do what they enjoy. Period. End of sentence. Enthusiasm for your business is more important than the details of accounting, organization, etc. Why? Because you can always hire professionals to do the accounting, legal, and other work for your business and the cost won’t be that great.
What you cannot buy is enthusiasm, drive, and know-how. Only you have these attributes for your business! The more you believe in your product or service and the benefits your customers derive from it, the more likely you are to succeed and prosper in your business. Only you can come up with an idea unique to your imagination, talent, and drive.
Wait! Stop! Before you order your shingle and put a nail above your door, there is the flip side. According to the Small Business Association (SBA), more than 50 percent of all new businesses in the United States fail. The main reason for these discouraging numbers is that many entrepreneurs get an idea for a business, very often based on a hobby they enjoy, and jump right in. The word “failed” may sound very frightening; remember, the SBA is only keeping track of whether a business remained open and viable. In many cases, it may be that when people attempted to turn their hobby into a profession, they discovered that they did not enjoy the business aspects, and closed by choice—it doesn’t necessarily mean that they became financially destitute, or even that no one wanted to buy their services. For example, it might be that they found the hours were longer and more arduous than the job they quit to become their own boss. Perhaps they realized their work habits or personalities were not conducive to setting up shop. Be honest about your goals and reasons for going into business for yourself. It’s not for everyone. You aren’t playing with paper and scissors any longer. You have decided to go into business and create an income—serious stuff. Before coloring your logo and rushing off to the nearest graphic designer, you will need to ask yourself if you have what it takes.
There are two categories in the area of business that you must address to determine whether you are entrepreneurial material: personal attributes and business acumen. Let’s address the personal side of business first.
Let me ask you something to start with: Do you scrapbook yourself? Do you have a full-blown love (and hopefully passion) for creating one-of-a-kind albums, and are you knowledgeable about all the gadgets, papers, and terminology out there? If you are without a better-than-average grasp of what scrapbooking is all about and lack access to the latest trends and merchandise, why would anyone hire you or frequent your retail or Internet outlet? Sure, you can read books about it and interview scrapbook enthusiasts, but unless you’ve created albums yourself and know what makes a well-balanced page and how color coordination works and what devices create what effects, your customers will notice your lack of authentic expertise. Only by using the products and spending countless hours applying your imagination to a blank page will you be able to answer questions and recommend ideas and products with confidence. You can’t learn creativity from a book.
Many home-based and retail scrapbook business owners confided that it was only after years of actually creating scrapbooks and experimenting with all the merchandise out there that they are now able to truthfully tell a customer which product did the best job and offer creative techniques the manufacturer had not even thought of. Would you let someone steam-clean your carpets who had just started a cleaning service, and who thought all he had to do was buy the equipment and put his logo on the side of a van? Or, would you choose a dedicated workman who had cleaned hundreds of carpets and knew the correct product to use for certain stains, thus eliminating any possible damage to your costly rugs or upholstery?
Now, what corner of the scrapbook enterprise do you want to occupy? Do you enjoy getting up in front of people and leading a group, or does the mere thought of that turn your hands clammy? Are you a team player, or a spectator who prefers her alone time?
Can you multitask and coordinate? Are you comfortable delegating, as you would have to with employees? How are you at bookkeeping, ordering, or being firm with vendors or unreasonable customers? Do you usually collapse under stressful situations or deadlines? What about your knowledge of the Internet and all the components that go into online creation and advertising? If you think the term “social media” means “paparazzi” then you are not ready to fire up the web browser. Today’s websites require a pretty savvy knowledge of all things Internet; from the use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest—to how to get your SEO up to par. Sure you can hire a graphic artist or website designer, but it is extremely helpful to know your way around your own website and take part in the running of it. Do you know what e-commerce means? Site map? Opted-in email? Don’t shoot the messenger! We will cover all of this in Chapter 6, “The Electric Entrepreneur.”
Next, how are your customer service skills—do most people irritate you easily?
Can you work long hours at a retail site, or do you prefer sporadic spurts of energy at home, where you can do other things? Can you plan ahead, and can you manage your time? Are you an organized person, or does your bedroom closet look like a rummage sale after the mobs have hit it?
If you work at home, can you discipline your family and friends to respect your work hours and office space? Do you currently keep to a household budget and track expenses? Do you save for large purchases, or do you demand instant gratification? How would you handle loneliness if you worked long hours without others around you?
Today’s business requires knowledge of computers, and sometimes long hours spent using them. How do you feel about being tied to a desk? Do you enjoy researching your competition and thinking of innovative ways to draw people to your website or door?
How about professionalism? You will be expected to present yourself well to bank personnel, vendors, advertising and marketing agents, commercial real estate agents (if you’re going retail), maintenance personnel, landlords, and most of all, your customers. If you can’t see yourself in anything other than Levis and sandals, you might want to rethink joining the professional field.
Are you a problem-solver who loves a challenge, or does facing one problem after another find you hiding under the covers? And finally, are you a risk-taker, or do you prefer to sail your boat closer to the shore?
Now let’s look at your business discernment. There are many traits you will need and skills you will have to acquire to run your own business. In Chapter 13, under Contracts and Forms, you will find a checklist of the qualifications we are about to discuss, so that you may check them off as you either implement them or gain the corresponding knowledge. Here is a rundown to consider:
You will have to decide what structure you want your business to run under (more about this in Chapter 3). Do you want a partner? Are you planning to run a corporation, or will you be running a home-based business? You will need to register your business, deciding if it is service-oriented or if you will need a retail sales license. You will be creating a logo, business plan, tax foundation, letterhead, invoices, inventory control sheets, website and vendor base. Whether your office is home-based or not, you will need to acquire office equipment and (if you go into retail) a profusion of displays, merchandise, and tracking equipment. The ability to advertise and attract customers will be crucial. Can you evaluate the competition and offer something it does not? How are your computer skills? Will you be creating a website? (It is almost impossible to compete in today’s market without a website. Even if you are working from your basement teaching classes, a website gives you credibility and a place to show off your work.) Do you know how to handle today’s necessary technology? Do you know how to price inventory and monitor its progress?
You see? There is so much more to running a business than deciding it would be fun to be your own boss and sell pretty stickers to happy scrappers. Without the business backbone needed to start and operate a business, you could fall flat on your paste.
Try this quick feedback question to establish where you think you fit in:
In the first blank, choose the facet of scrapbooking you are drawn to at the moment, i.e., consultant, home-based business owner, retail store owner, Internet store owner, teacher, etc. In the second blank, list all the assets you feel you have that would enable you to be a success at that particular scrapbook career. Now you have at least an idea of where you feel you want to go and what strengths and weaknesses you have for that chosen area.
To help you further facilitate your decision to go into business, let’s break it down even more.
Would you like to work with people? A “people business” is one where you work day in and day out with—you guessed it—people. You must enjoy your customers, or they will sense it and possibly take their business elsewhere. If you can’t present a polished, professional, friendly manner consistently, then go into a “loner” area of this business.
A typical scrapbooking career for you “people-friendly” folk would be to open a retail outlet and actually work the store yourself. Another avenue would be to become a consultant who helps people or stores acquire their dreams in the scrapbooking circuit. A teacher who runs workshops and seminars would do well here. One whose heart is in the trade show side of things might also flourish. Running a retreat or special event would be perfect for you.
What if you prefer working alone with minimal contact with “homo sapiens”—yes—people! You would then feel more at home designing your own products in your studio and shopping them around to manufacturers via a website or mail. Someone who creates commissioned albums would do most of the work from home, as would a freelance artist for the expanding scrapbook magazine market. Under Chapter 6, “The Electric Entrepreneur,” you’ll discover all you need to know about starting your own Internet business, which is primarily done behind the scenes.
There is no part of any business that is completely people-free, as you will be dealing with vendors, bankers, and customers on some level. But you can select the area that fits inside your comfort zone for interaction. You can decide if you want a stay-at-home business, or one run outside the home, with only minimal details handled in a home office.
There is a reason why many people feel happier working for an employer, besides the obvious relief of letting someone else deal with tax hassles, layoffs, overhead, and employee issues. The thought of opening a business where you are the boss and fingers point toward you, whether in times of loss or profit, can be a pretty scary scenario. For this reason, I have listed the ten most common fears people have voiced when deciding whether or not to go into business for themselves.
1. The overall fear of failure, where one is surrounded by a general sense of dread and anxiety.
2. Fear of success: Will I be overwhelmed and my life no longer my own?
3. Fear of embarrassment if it should fail.
4. Fear of demands on time.
5. Fear of being undereducated for the job requirements.
6. Fear of being your own boss: “The buck stops here!”
7. Fear of competition.
8. Fear of all the details: accounting, legalities, setting up a website, health insurance, retirement protection, etc.
9. Fear of depleted family time.
10. Fear of customer dissatisfaction.
If any or a few of these fears are nibbling at your mind, I have good news for you—you’re normal! There is not one of us opening a business for the first time or the fifteenth time who does not have these little cuties as bed partners every night. “What if?” becomes our new mantra, until our friends and families are ordering Valium. Fears are like packed earth to a worm—you just keep wiggling and working through them. You eventually get there and may have the good luck of leaving a tunnel you’ve blazed for others to “worm through” as well. One of my favorite quotes is, “Fear knocked at the door; courage answered and no one was there.”
I’d like to mention something you may not have thought about. By looking fear in the face and taking a risk, you provide an example to your children, friends, and family, who are watching you and assessing your results. A child raised around a parent or significant role model will learn that she too can go after her dreams.
I was raised in a modeling agency my mother created out of our home. At the age of five, I was on a runway and the confidence and people skills that experience gave me are immeasurable. It was not like today’s contests where toddlers wear makeup, dress like Marilyn Monroe, and line their walls with tiaras. I wore Easter dresses, little Mary Jane shoes with white socks, and was missing two front teeth. It was the day-in, day-out watching as my mother overcame every obstacle, competed with the franchised modeling agencies, and came out on top, that put the foundation under my feet and the clouds in my hands. “You can be anything you want to, Becky,” was served up daily with breakfast. How can you hand your child a better tool for the future (with the exception of good foundational beliefs and perspective)?
The reason fear sinks so many would-be entrepreneurs is the fact that it represents the unknown—that spooky “Never Never Land” that waits for us somewhere “out there.” You have it a little better than those who have been the absolute first to create a market, however. Others have gone before you and proven the area was “monster-free.” They have even kindly handed you a flashlight in the guise of shared expertise and advice, and unrolled maps showing you where the pitfalls are and how to avoid them. Not so bad, really. So pick up your machete and compass, put on a brave face, and go boldly out into this wonderful adventure called entrepreneurship. I’ve been traveling its paths for over thirty years, and you couldn’t get me to hand in my road map for any amount of money.
I have a good friend who is about to start an online scrapbooking business. She has been running one from her home for six years now and has seen the trend toward Internet sales and bulk ordering. When I encouraged her to “Go For It!” she admitted she was scared to death of all that was involved in creating a website, graphics, a shopping cart, blogs, emails, newsletters, choosing a host, searching for the domain name, and on and on and on. Granted, creating a complicated website with pages of information and needing a user-friendly navigational menu bar can be daunting. But you know what? It only takes that first step. That step leads to the next, and so on. I watched my friend as she went from a “deer in the headlights” to a very computer-savvy business owner. She is launching in a few weeks and is proud of all the information she has learned about SEO, using social media, and creating a very cool website platform. To use my favorite line from Lawrence of Arabia, “Over there is Aqaba . . . it is only a matter of going.” In this case Lawrence was trying to persuade Ali to cross an uncrossable desert to get to the city of Aqaba, which was a stronghold needed to win the war. The desert had never been crossed and the feat was deemed impossible. They did cross it and defeated the Turks. Unlike Lawrence, you have only to buy Web Marketing for Dummies, pick a hosting or website creation site, and go after it . . . no camel required! *If you want a jolt of inspiration, go to YouTube and type in “Lawrence of Arabia + Aqaba.” It is a short clip and gives me incentive every time I watch it. The fact that I have a crush on Peter O’Toole may also be a factor.
Please look under “References and Recommendations” at the back of this book for other helpful books on creating a business utilizing website creation and social media.
Most people I’ve been around who wanted to start their own business didn’t for a number of reasons. The one I found that frustrated me the most was laziness. When they took a look at all it required to even get started, they balked, pouted, and quit. There are guaranteed failures out there: the ones who never start.
I read somewhere about a woman who was in her sixties and told her husband she had always wanted to go back to school and become a certified psychologist. He encouraged her to do it now. With incredulous eyes, she stared at him and burst out, “I will be seventy-two by the time I open my practice!”
“Well,” said her husband mildly, “you’re going to be seventy-two anyway. Do you want to be seventy-two and living your dream as a psychologist, or just seventy-two and still wishing you had followed your heart?”
That man deserves some major brownie points!
So, my fellow entrepreneurs, let’s eliminate the laziness factor right now. I will show you, step by step, how to get off your hand-stitched cushion and begin to follow your heart today.
Decide which area(s) of the scrapbooking field you want to go into: consulting, store owner, teacher, website business, etc. That’s the first thing. You need to know the destination in order to plan a road map.
Now, will you be working from your home, or leasing space somewhere? This answer will determine many things, such as capital needed to open your business, zoning regulations if you’re working from home, the need for employees, etc. Decide now, based on what you’ve already read here, which scrapbooking avenue you prefer, so that you can determine whether it is suitable for the home, or if you need bigger digs. All of these things will be covered in detail in their respective chapters, but my goal here is to get you seated comfortably in a chair with pen and paper and actually generate some action.
Alright, you’ve made two decisions already: 1) Which scrapbooking career makes your heart go pitter-pat, and, 2) Whether the invoice will have your home address on it, a website address, or an outside business location.
I would like to mention at this juncture that the precursor to a decision to run a home-based business should be a family meeting to determine how much support you may expect. This will be highlighted in Chapter 4, “The Home-Based Scrapbooking Business,” but for now, I would encourage you to invite all proponents and opponents to voice their thoughts.
Next on our quick list is determining funding. Will you be pulling monies to begin this business from a savings account, anticipating rich Uncle Harry’s demise, or is a loan indicated? If a loan will be necessary, how’s your credit? Will there be a partner to share start-up costs? Should you start this venture part-time until more money is available to go full out?
Now find a place by your favorite phone, pop open a soda, and secure some quiet time. You are about to become very well acquainted with your telephone keypad, your laptop, and your handy Yellow Pages.
Your first stop will be to call your state revenue department to inquire about registering your business. Details of registering are in the following chapter. All I want you to do right now is make a few calls that will enable you to see that all things that seem overwhelming at first are easily broken down into doable steps. Making a few phone calls will show you this.
Your next call will be to your insurance agent; if you don’t have one, now is the time to find one. Ask which insurances you would have to carry for your type of business and specify whether it will be home-based or retail. Jot all the information down. It’s highly likely that any of these calls will send you out on other calls, but that’s great! You’re gathering information and feeling empowered. Keep all information in one place, like a notebook or checklist such as the one provided at the back of this book. Keep any business cards you pick up in the same notebook as well, or use the new smartphone business card indexes.
If you are hanging your shingle above your own front door, you will need to call the zoning commission with the Planning and Development Department of your county. You can either look under Government pages in your phonebook or type it into your web browser with your state and county.
If you are feeling really bold, call a commercial realty agent and ask questions about possible retail sites available in the area of town in which you think your business would thrive. Location really is key, and the agent will have suggestions for the best venues based on your type of business. This one phone call will give you an insight into what we will cover in Chapter 5, “Going Retail.”
Are you creating a website business? Type "website builders" into your browser and have fun. There are many. The first few pages that pop up in a Google search will usually offer their top ten lists of website builders with their pros and cons and reviews. I have been very happy with JustHost, but some swear by GoDaddy. Within minutes you will start to feel empowered as you delve into the “not-so-scary” world of Internet creation. Most website builders have all the bells and whistles and will help you create email accounts, e-commerce (shopping carts), and much, much more.
You can also type in marketing agencies for your city in your web browser and look into having a brick-and-mortar company build your website. The upside to this is that you can sit down face-to-face with someone and brainstorm. Many offer an answering service, which is a wonderful idea for your new business. It gives you an air of professionalism and frees you from being tied to the phone or using your own personal number for customer questions. I used a professional website builder called Townsquare Interactive at www.townsquareinteractive.com. Working with Katlin Walker at that company was a joy. She created the website I've always wanted as a companion to my television talk show, "Troubleshooting Men," a dating, relationship and image makeover show for Northern Colorado, designed to help women have an amazing life. They also set me up with a merchant account company to handle all the credit card needs, ways to offer coupons, and a forum for customer questions. The moral here is to shop around.
I don’t want you to head into the murkier waters of taxes, structures, bank accounts, and bookkeeping right now. My purpose here is to get your feet wet in the shallow end and hand you the tools to begin. Everything you need for your area of business will be covered thoroughly in the following chapters. What I’ve found, however, is that many take a look at those chapter subheads and feel their shoulders slump. Taking a little time today to make a few calls and jot down a handful of decisions will prove to you that it is not so scary and can be accomplished one step at a time.
I learned to break down seemingly insurmountable tasks while making a career as a muralist. Staring at a thirty-five-foot wall or a fifty-foot semi-trailer truck and knowing I had to fill every inch of that space with creative images was daunting, believe me! The only way I handled it was to take a deep breath and say, “Okay Becky, you don’t have to paint the entire thing today. Concentrate on this one area here (and I would block out a doable space for the day), and that’s all you have to do today. Nothing else—just this one area.” So each day, I would show up, paint my designated area, step back, and feel good about what I had accomplished, and go home. Before I knew it, the mural was completed. When I started writing books, this recipe worked well for staring at blank pages and knowing I had to fill in about 350 of those!
It’s like what someone said about eating: If you had to look at a gigantic table spread with all the food you would be eating in your lifetime, wouldn’t you feel overwhelmed and shout, “Good grief . . . you expect me to eat all that?” Well, silly, you don’t eat it all now! Just a day at a time, and enjoy the sensation.
If you are feeling better and have decided you really do want to start your own business, then do some fun things associated with it. Doodle some ideas for your logo. Look through the Yellow Pages, enter “scrapbooking businesses” in your search engine, see what types of logos others in your chosen field have put together, and what benefits their businesses offer. You may see a few you hadn’t thought of. Collect magazines (if you haven’t already) on the scrapbooking industry and study them thoroughly. Inside is a wealth of information on not only new industry trends, but also ideas of what customers are looking for. Don’t forget online scrapbooking magazines, such as www.Scrapbooking.com. There is a wealth of information online.
Do you have a few goals set now? You should have small ones that turn into completed projects. Please don’t skip this important part. If you tend to procrastinate or become overwhelmed with minutiae, just make a few calls and you’ll feel energized, I promise.
You have a good idea and you’ve researched the market and found it favorable for profit-producing potential (PPP). This idea does not have to be totally original, just a good match for the market.
Russ Williams of Invention Home, www.inventionhome.com, an incredible website for new inventors and their creative ideas, told me that an invention does not have to be an original idea, simply a needed modification or improvement of an existing idea that has created a popular demand in a given market.
If you have an idea for new areas of consulting that have not been tapped, or a variance on an existing technique which you believe would increase sales, or a new merchandise product for scrapbooking, then your future could be very profitable indeed.
Maybe you have more than just an idea; you have a marketable skill. You are adept at creating new themes and page décor using existing merchandise, or coming up with your own artistic creations.
Now analyze the scrapbooking market and determine what you can and want to do and find your niche. If that niche is in the custom-colored walls of your own home, you still have much to do. Creating the atmosphere and space for a home-based business has its challenges, and you must weather the legalities of running a business from home as well.
Retail and Internet businesses are replete with regulations, red tape, and financing configurations. Am I telling you this to frighten you off? Of course not. I merely want to inform you that your future is dependent on your ability to deal with business matters in a professional way.
One complaint I do hear from people who have turned a beloved hobby into a business is that what was once a fun, creative release is now work! Try very hard to keep the passion you originally felt for scrapbooking and infuse your new business with that enthusiasm. It is not uncommon for someone skilled in a particular area to have people seek out their abilities; this suddenly becomes, “Wow . . . I could make a living at this!” Once the doors are open and the cash register is ringing and the bills are due and complaints are logged, that little hobby you used to adore will be a job with overhead and demands.
Find a way in the beginning to anticipate these common hindrances to a business and maintain that devotion you feel for what got you here. I constantly remind myself that not only do I get to do what I love, but it provides me with an income as well. Keep it in perspective and know all endeavors have their annoyances, and that’s all they are—routine annoyances.
If you have the knowledge, skill, and passion to become a business owner in this incredible, explosive field, there is nothing stopping you. With this book as a guide and a strong belief in yourself, I foresee great things in that crystal ball before you. Wipe the glue and paste smudges off its shiny surface and go after your scrapbooking dreams!